6 Endangered and Invasive Species That May Surprise You

4 min readNov 15, 2021

3 Cool Endangered Species:

Check out this link for a larger list of endangered animals, and this link for a list of ways to help endangered species.

Western Lowland Gorilla — Critically endangered

Found in Africa, the western lowland gorilla population is mainly declining due to disease and hunting. According to the Smithsonian, the population of this species has declined more than 60 percent over the past 20–25 years. Scientists predict that even without any threats, it would still require 75 years for the population to recover.

Fun facts:

Gorillas have unique fingerprints just like humans do! Not only that, but they also have unique nose prints.
The western lowland gorilla is the smallest of all the gorilla species.

2. Przewalski’s Horse — Endangered

Originally found in Europe and Asia, the przewalski’s horse is an endangered species and today is now only found in reintroduction sites in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan. The main factors affecting their population are poaching and habitat loss due to illegal mining. Przewalski’s horses are considered to be the last wild breed of horse alive today.

Fun facts:

All the przewalski’s horses that exist today are a result of captive breeding of 12 przewalski’s horses.
In Aug 2020, the 1st cloned przewalski’s foal was born at San Diego Zoo.

3. Spider Tortoise — Critically Endangered

The spider tortoise lives in Madagascar and are mainly threatened by habitat loss and illegal trading in the pet market. According to Smithsonian, the habitat of spider tortoises decreases by 1.2% each year.

Fun facts:

The spider tortoise is the smallest of the four species of tortoises that only live on Madagascar and rarely reaches more than 6 inches in length!
Spider tortoises are most active during wet season (Nov-April), and during dry season (April-Nov) spider tortoises estivate — a less intense version of hibernation to conserve energy.

3 Surprising Invasive Species:

Check out this resource for more examples and to learn more about them!

Asian Carp

Originally from Eastern Russia and China, Asian carp were imported into the United States in the 1970s to provide an inexpensive addition to fresh fish markets. However, according to The National Wildlife Federation, they are now dominating up to 95% of the biomass in some areas causing issues in the Mississippi River and the Illinois water system.

Asian carp pose a problem because they are an incredibly fast-growing species and out-compete native fish for food, as they are quite prolific feeders. In the native habitats of Asian carp, there are natural predators which keep its population in check, unlike in the Great Lakes.

Possible solutions:

Limit the pathways for asian carp to enter the Great Lakes (Source)
Change the name ‘asian carp’ to make it appear more palatable in Illinois so more people eat the fish

2. Cane Toad

Originally from Northern South America, Central America, and Mexico, the cane toad was brought to Australia in order to combat cane beetles which were causing problems for sugar cane crops. However, now the cane toad population is out of control.

Their population size has become problematic because they produce toxic ooze, and unlike in its native habitat, predators in Australia are not immune to these toads. There are many cases in Australia where dogs who have eaten or even simply licked these toads have died from the poison.

Possible solutions:

Extract the jelly (ie.cane toad eggs) from lakes where they hatch their eggs, and to humanely extract adult cane toads from the environment.
Implement mesh fencing to prevent their spreading (Source)

3. Wild Boar

The wild boar is a species originally from Europe and Asia. They were brought to the U.S. in the early 1500s as a source of food to be domesticated. Today, they are an invasive species due to potentially escaping domestication and also being intentionally released into the wild to increase hunting opportunities.

The wild boar is considered to be the most destructive invasive species in the United States with annual damages estimated at $1.5 billion, according to The New York Times. They not only compete with native species for food, but also transmit pathogens and parasites.